


Date Night

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Extra Treat, F/M, Kanan Jarrus Lives, M/M, temporary baby acquisition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22660291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Asking your not-boyfriend out on a date is even harder when he's stuck babysitting for his friends.
Relationships: Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla
Comments: 12
Kudos: 141
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Date Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rivulet027](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/gifts).



Kallus practiced to himself as he made his way towards the _Ghost_. This was a casual request. Nothing to get himself worked up about. In a rare treat, the base mess had been rearranged as seating for a special viewing of two holofilms tonight. The first was a brand new comedy-drama starring several popular actors and some promising young faces. The second was an old classic, a romance set during the Clone Wars. He hadn't seen either one and he thought, he hoped, that Zeb might like to join him. Crammed into an uncomfortable room with hundreds of other Rebels craning their necks to see the high-beam holograms wasn't a patch on the kind of elegant Coruscanti filmhouse Kallus had always wanted a chance to visit, but he looked forward to the company.

A lot. He looked forward to the company quite a lot.

He coughed, clearing his throat then tugging at his jacket to pull out the wrinkles threatening to form. The ramp was down, a common sight back on the Yavin 4 base. They'd been through two more bases since, never getting a chance to get comfortable or establish a routine before fleeing. No chance to rest, and think about life outside of this Rebellion, or about what life after it might look like when, as it were, the show ended and the lights came up.

Kallus boarded the ship, calling out a greeting as he did. From inside, he heard a familiar sound rattling through the entire ship. The baby was crying again. Still. Always.

The noise increased as soon as he palmed the panel to open the door to the living area. A smile lit his face unbidden as he saw Zeb in the lounge. He knew when the sight of a huge, purple Lasat had stopped making him reach for his weapon. He wasn't sure when the same sight lit him with a weird, wonderful happiness, even when the sight was accompanied by a screaming infant. Zeb bounced the baby in his arms, looking up to see Kallus step inside.

"Hello," Kallus said loudly, letting his ears acclimate. He could learn to ignore the sound if he tried.

"Hi." Zeb lifted Jacen to his shoulder. The wailing was closer to one of his sensitive ears, but seemed to calm a bit at the new position as Zeb patted his back. "Did you need something?"

This was why he'd practiced. "I, ah, came to ask if you'd planned to see those holofilms tonight. We could go together." He felt his hands want to start twisting, and with an effort, kept them loose at his sides. "If you wanted."

Zeb's face brightened, then fell again. "Can't. I told Hera and Kanan I'd watch the kid tonight while they went."

This possibility had never occurred to Kallus. "Not to be rude, but Kanan can't watch holofilms."

"I'll be surprised if either of 'em knows what the plot was when they get home."

"I see." To be quite honest, he hadn't planned on playing close attention, either, but he couldn't help the small twinge of pique. Perhaps he should have made the offer earlier, but he'd been on duty, and he'd had trouble screwing up his courage to ask. It was one thing not to have the romantic evening his mind had whispered to him through the last few hours of his shift, and quite another to have that incipient plan ruined by someone else having one instead.

"You go. Tell me if it's any good."

The baby started fussing again. Zeb moved him into a cradling position, rocking him awkwardly in his huge arms. Unfamiliar emotions bubbled inside Kallus. He didn't know why the sight of Zeb with a child moved him.

Without letting himself think too hard, he said, "The HoloNet reviews say it's terrible. How about I stay and help out with Jacen?"

Zeb's smile came back. "Sure. That'd be great."

They took turns pacing through the corridors of the ship. As long as he was in motion, the baby was only a bit grumpy. When the motion stopped, his small pink and green face flushed red and he cried as though the world was ending. With a normal child, this was an irritating phenomenon, but when this child screamed, small pings and clinks could be heard around the ship as items fell off shelves or were thrown into the bulkheads.

Kallus ducked, crouching over the baby protectively as a mug flew by his head. He pulled Jacen away to look him sternly in the eye. "That wasn't nice."

"It's never nice," Zeb said, sitting down and resting his feet while Kallus paced. "Kanan says he's trying to get the kid's powers under control, but it's hard when he can't even hold up his own head more'n half the time, much less understand what his dad's saying to him."

"Why does he keep crying? I thought Hera took him to the medical suite."

Zeb shrugged. "She did. They don't know what's up with him, either. Babies cry. Some babies cry a lot."

"Do Lasat babies cry this much?" He meant the question to be joking, but the air between them suddenly went cold. He stopped mid-step. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

Zeb sat back, tilting his head up, looking at the ceiling but really looking at nothing, or looking into a past Kallus couldn't see and had no right to ask about after everything. "I don't remember. Never was around little kids much." He tilted his head forward again and looked at Kallus. Instead of the anger he expected, he saw only a calm, resigned sorrow. "Lasat babies weren't really the crying type, I think."

"Human babies are," he said, awkwardly trying to change the subject. "I suppose Twi'lek babies as well."

"I can talk about Lasan if you want."

"I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"They're not bad. Not anymore." Zeb grinned. "I remember when I was a kid, me and the other boys in my pod liked to climb all over the greenhouse. I could climb higher'n any of the others. But I was a kid, and I wasn't always careful. Fell and busted my arm one day. Didn't cry, though."

Kallus tried to picture Zeb as a boy, but he'd seen too few Lasat children to get a better image than simply a shorter, ganglier version of the man he knew. "Brave even as a child?"

"Nah. Surprised. And they gave me a nice shot of something right after for the pain. Turned out fine, except it aches when it rains sometimes." He bent his left arm to demonstrate.

"I broke my leg when I was five. It hurt, and I did cry." He didn't mean it as a competition, merely a story in trade for a story.

"Broke it again a few years ago," Zeb reminded him. "You oughta be more careful."

"I'll try not to crash on any more deserted moons."

"That turned out fine, too. You're here now. You might not've been if we hadn't landed there."

Jacen squirmed, and Kallus moved him to his other arm as he walked. "How did you become such an optimist? I don't understand it. There are days I go over our latest intelligence reports and think this entire enterprise is doomed, but you've been fighting since before there was even a proper Alliance to fight with, and you don't give up."

"Giving up means they win faster." Zeb got to his feet, and reached out. Kallus handed the baby to him and took the chance to rest as Zeb started walking with him again. "I can't let them win that easily. Maybe we'll be lucky and more of the Imps will see the light like you did."

"I didn't see the light," said Kallus in mild irritation. "I simply reevaluated my opinions, based on extended interaction with you."

A thin, amused smile covered Zeb's face. "You didn't see the light, you saw me."

"Not exactly. I didn't drop my entire life's mission over you."

"But you did a little bit," goaded Zeb, not looking at him as he bounced Jacen in his arms. "It wasn't all me, but it was partly me."

"Partly."

"Which part?" The teasing in his voice was clear now, and Kallus supposed he'd earned it. He'd come here to ask Zeb out. Pretending anything else was childish.

"The best part."

Zeb said nothing, only kept walking back and forth. The baby seemed happier now, past whatever had upset him and kept upsetting him, keeping his father completely focused on him all day while Hera was busy with her work, and keeping them both up most of the night with his cries. He was a handful. No wonder they'd taken part of one night off together, even if it was to go to a bad film Kanan couldn't even see. Sometimes the time together was the best part.

* * *

"Hey."

Kallus woke to the gentle shove on his shoulder. He'd fallen asleep on the sofa next to Zeb, who was blinking himself awake, Jacen still nestled in his arms.

Hera said, "I see he didn't keep you up." She took her son from Zeb, careful not to wake him.

"Thanks for watching him," Kanan said.

"It was no problem," said Zeb. "I had help."

Kallus gave a half-smile, half-shrug. "How was the film?"

"It was fine," Hera said, at the same time Kanan said, "Fantastic."

Hera said, "We left before the second film started." She gave Kallus a look he didn't like, one that said she knew exactly what he was doing here. "They did an intermission between them. It starts in a couple of minutes."

Zeb said, "It's that old one, right? 'Home Is a Starfield Away.'" He brushed Kallus on the shoulder. "I like that one. Want to go?"

His first impulse was to say no, to not show his feelings in front of these people who had every reason to distrust him and to uncover ways to hurt him. That was fear, though, and there was no point in it. "I'd love to."

He ignored the amused look on Kanan's face as they said their good-nights. He and Zeb emerged from the ship into the cool night air, and headed towards the mess. "You've seen this film before?"

Zeb took his hand. "Yep. So when they quiz you about the plot later, I can tell you what happens. In case you miss something."

Kallus smiled. "I can't wait."


End file.
